Category: Senate Race 2012

Sam Rohrer, who is among those seeking the Republican nomination to take on incumbent Democrat Bob Casey Jr. — or maybe Joe Vodvarka — in this fall’s U.S. Senate race will have a Delaware County Town Hall, 7 p.m., April 11 at the Saint James Alumni Association, 1499 E. 9th St., Eddystone, Pa. 19022.

For some background on Sam visit here.

To see what his principles are visit here.

The primary election is April 24.

The State GOP has endorsed Steve Welch — a former Barack Obama and Joe Sestak supporter — for the primary race so if you are a Republican who likes Barack Obama and Joe Sestak, Welch is clearly your man.

The state Republican Party is warning the county organizations about associating with those unendorsed, fiscally responsible types favored by the Tea Party.

They seem particularly concerned about U.S. candidate Steve Welch whose votes for President Obama and support for Congressman Joe Sestak isn’t sitting real well with people who think the Republican Party shouldn’t pick candidates who support Democrats.

In a letter sent to every county GOP chairman, the state honchos say:

— Only candidates endorsed by the PA GOP should be recognized and/or allowed to speak at official party events and that they should be able to attend events as complimentary guests.

— All endorsed candidates should be given an opportunity to speak at such events

— County organizations should only be circulating petitions for state-endorsed candidates.

— County chairs should decline promotional materials from non-endorsed candidates.

If the state GOP has such a handle on things, one kind of wonders how this unflattering memo is getting circulated.

Corbett Twists Arms; Rohrer Twists Corbett — Sam Rohrer brought his freedom movement — the phrase he feels is more comprehensive than “tea party” — to Newtown Square, tonight, Feb. 1, as he begins in earnest his campaign to be the Republican to take on incumbent Bob Casey in this fall’s U.S. Senate race.

Rohrer and others in the Knights of Columbus Hall on Route 252 described the apparently unprecedented pressure placed on the State Committee people by Gov. Tom Corbett and the party establishment to vote for Welch. Rohrer said he saw some of the committeepeople in tears from the intimidation which included threats of lost government jobs.

Rohrer served 18 years in the Pennsylvania House representing the 128th District before stepping down for the governor’s race. Minnesota Congresswoman and recent presidential contender Michele Bachmann has credited him with getting her involved in politics.

Rohrer said his reasons for running is to return the nation to its moorings — he mentioned the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act which arguably gives the president the power to arrest people at will and hold them without trial — and to cushion the pain many feel is inevitable due to the policies pursued by both parties over the last two decades

“It doesn’t make sense for Congress to approve multiple increases in the debt ceiling,” he said.

Nor did it make sense for us to be dependent on others for energy.

“We have more energy under the ground than in any country in the world,” he said, and that Pennsylvania might have more energy than any other state.

Rohrer also noted our unpayable debt. “Do we even have a sound currency?” he asked.

Rohrer said Casey needed to be replaced because “we can’t trust him.”

“He said he was pro life. His votes indicate he is not,” Rohrer said.

He said that Casey, with words claims that he supports the Second Amendment but with deeds supports President Obama’s anti-Second Amendment appointees. He noted that Casey agrees with Obama that coal mines should be shut down and that drilling for natural gas should be made harder.

“You cannot have trust without telling the truth,” Rohrer said.

Rohrer estimates that in his career as a legislator he casts 120,000 votes.

“The single most important thing a person in elective office does is vote,” he said.

And he said everyone tries to buy it.

“The system has become so corrupt you could not even predict what a person would do,” he said.

He said that while in office he sat next to a Delaware County legislator, who told him ” I used to be able to go home at night, place my head on the pillow and say I did something good today. I can no longer do that.”

Rohrer said he developed a checklist for himself to protect him from that fate.

The first question he asks regarding legislation is “is it moral.” Rohrer noted that he has never voted to give funding to Planned Parenthood.

Question 2 is: Is it Constitutional?

Question 3 is: Does it strengthen individual freedom or does it strengthen government control over the individual? He noted he opposed the Real ID bill at the state level after asking this question.

Question 4 is: Is it inefficient or ineffective. He said many bills are so poorly written they can’t be understood.

The last question is: Do we have the money to pay for it?

Rohrer said that during his 18 years he never violated the principles of his checklist. He said he soon had six other legislators following it, a number which had grown to 16 when he left office. There are 203 members in the State House.

There were as of last week six other conservative candidates seeking the nomination and they would likely split the vote amongst them leaving Welch to walk away with the prize.

Rohrer was asked if conservatives should present a united front.

“I would like them to consolidate around me,” he said. He noted that he had more volunteers than any other campaign.

The Pennsylvania Republican establishment, Saturday, Jan. 28, overwhelmingly endorsed a Chester County reputed Obama-supporter to take on incumbent Democrat Bob Casey in this fall’s U.S. Senate race.

Steve Welch, a businessman who has never held elected office, received 182 votes before the GOP State Committee. Coming in second was coal industry executive Tom Smith with 51 votes. Following them were Washington County businessman and erstwhile 12th District congressional candidate Tim Burns, 47 votes; former state representative and gubernatorial candidate Sam Rohrer with 33 votes; and Dauphin County attorney and former Sen. Rick Santorum staffer Marc Scaringi with 6.

Candidates Laureen Cummings, Dave Christian, John Kensinger and Robert Allen Mansfield did not submit their names for consideration.

Welch was a candidate for the GOP nomination for the 6th Congressional Seat in 2010 until Jim Gerlach decided he would run for re-election. Welch’s endorsement was strongly pushed by Gov. Tom Corbett. It is being widely reported that Welch changed registration to vote for Barack Obama in Pennsylvania’s 2008 primary election — which he is not denying — and hosted a fundraiser or something for liberal Democrat congressman Joe Sestak in 2006.

The endorsement does not mean Welch will be the nominee. That will be decided at April 24’s primary election.

Hopefully, the good guys get on the same page and keep the vote from being split. Otherwise look for a lot of people voting third party this fall. What is the point of the Republican Party anyway? Graft for us rather than Dems?

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA),
commonly known as “Card Check,” is the misnamed legislation promoted by
Organized Labor to stop the hemorrhaging within union ranks. (From a
high near 40 percent after World War II, union representation in the
private sector has plummeted to just 7 percent today). It would make
organizing a union infinitely easier by eliminating the current secret
ballot vote used to determine whether employees wish to unionize.

Common
sense tells us that whenever a secret ballot is not employed, many
people will not vote their conscience. Instead, they fall victim to
intimidation and arm-twisting, and end up casting a ballot in favor of
the person whom they are strongly encouraged – AKA “told” – to support.
The result is a rigged, Banana Republic election, anything but “Free
Choice.”

The Republican Party, on both the state and national
level, has vigorously opposed Card Check, not only because it is grossly
unfair to companies, but much more important, because it would
cavalierly discard that most fundamental American bedrock value: free
and fair elections. It is a right that has been held sacred in this
nation, and has allowed the people to chart their own course and make
their own decisions, free of outside influence and intimidation.

Given
this, it seems extremely hypocritical that the Republican State
Committee of Pennsylvania — while opposing Card Check – jettisons free
and fair voting for its own members by refusing to allow secret ballot
votes on important issues, such as Party endorsements.

And now,
on the eve of the meeting in which the Committee will vote whether to
endorse a candidate for the U.S. Senate (or not endorse at all), that
issue has become a firestorm that is only growing in intensity.

The
big question centers on whether the Party will endorse millionaire
Steve Welch, a favorite among several GOP leaders, including Republican
Gov. Tom Corbett. The problem many have with Welch is that he voted for
Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary and supported former
Congressman Joe Sestak, a stalwart liberal consistently to the Left of
Obama. Welch claims he left the GOP out of frustration that it wasn’t
conservative enough, leaving more than a few Republicans perplexed.

(In
an email to PoliticsPA this week, Sestak wrote of his meeting with
Welch: “He expressed support of me and what I stood for. He seemed nice
and, separately, supportive of the Democratic Party and its efforts.”)

So
would the Party really risk massive damage to itself by endorsing an
Obama-voter, and make the sin mortal by doing so without a secret
ballot?

They can’t be that dumb.

But this being Pennsylvania’s Republican Party, all bets are off.

Should they endorse Welch, it will
be a double whammy, throwing the entire Party into a quagmire from which
it would be difficult to escape.

State Committee would cement
the perception that its endorsements are behind-the-scenes deals by
inside powerbrokers hell-bent on executing individual agendas – the
rank-and-file Party faithful be damned. More damaging, it would play out
– in full public view – exactly how ruthlessly efficient Card Check
tactics are, making unions blush with envy.

How could Party
leaders possibly explain with a straight face that the process was fair,
and that no political pressure and intimidation took place – when Gov.
Corbett and certain State Committee leaders were openly pushing Welch?
Would it really be plausible to believe that the message “do it for the
Party, and do it for your Governor – or else your political career stops
here” wouldn’t be made loud and clear?

Even more telling, how
could the Party explain Committee members’ change of heart in endorsing
Welch after only one of five State Committee regional caucus straw polls
voted for Welch as their candidate of choice? In other words, of the
five regional “pre-election” votes that took place – voted on by the
very same people who are now being asked to change their vote and
endorse Welch -only one made Welch a winner. Significantly, Welch’s own
Southeast Caucus refused to hold a straw poll, and Corbett was not even
able to deliver his hometown Southwest Caucus for Welch.

This is
by no means an indictment of Steve Welch. It has nothing to do with him,
and everything to do with the Republican Party. Clearly, in this
particular situation, the wisest course of action would be to ignore the
Governor’s misguided endorsement and refuse to endorse any candidate.

In
allowing grassroots Republicans across Pennsylvania to make their
choice, free of Party endorsements, a civil war inside the GOP would be
averted, and the best candidate — the people’s choice – would emerge
to take on incumbent Bob Casey. And if Welch wins a non-endorsement
primary, his victory would not be tainted with the perception that he
“bought” his way to the nomination. Regardless of the outcome, no one
can argue with the results if rank-and-file Republican voters make that
decision.

Besides gaining immense credibility with many
Republicans should it not endorse a candidate, State Committee could
score a huge coup by then amending its bylaws to allow for that which is
uniquely American: secret ballot elections.

Otherwise, it will become known as Republican State Committee, Local 666.

Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-9) announced yesterday that he will not seek the Republican nomination to face incumbent Democrat Bob Casey Jr. in next fall’s U.S. Senate race.

This leaves in the race Republicans:

Tim Burns, the Washington County businessman — he was the founder of the pharmaceutical company TechRX — who ignominiously lost to Democrat underdog Mark Critz in a 2010 special election to fill the 12th District Congressional seat held by the late John Murtha. Burns is close to state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason.

Sam Rohrer, the proven budget hawk and Berks County resident who long represented the 128th District until he stepped down to scare the Republican establishment in the 2010 gubernatorial primary campaign.

Marc Scaringi, attorney from Camp Hill who was a staffer for Sen. Rick Santorum.

Steve Welch, a resident of Malvern, Chester County who founded the Phoenixville pharmaceutical firm Mitos and the “business accelerator model” Dreamit Ventures. Welch sought the GOP nomination for the 6th District congressional race in 2010 but was talked out of a primary fight when incumbent Jim Gerlach changed his mind about seeking re-election.

Colonel John Vernon, of Jackson Township who recently retired after a distinguished career with the Army.

David Christian of Bucks County, a successful businessman and highly decorated Vietnam veteran. He is a noted veterans advocate.

Tom Smith of Armstrong County, a coal executive and advocate for a commonsense energy policy.

State Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi’s (R-9) bid to replace incumbent Democrat Bob Casey in the U.S. Senate is not warming the cockles of the hearts of some Tea Partyers this Christmas season.

Montco activist Bob Guzzardi has sent an email blast saying that Pileggi is “The Establishment’s Guy” and noting that he has a perfect rating with the National Federation of Independent Business (a small business advocacy group) and a 75 percent rating with the AFL-CIO.

Frankly, that’s a rather impressive trick.

Lisa Esler of the Delaware County Patriots has published a list of problems with Pileggi which note, among other things, that he has neither adequately addressed the crushing burdens of teacher strikes in Pennsylvania nor the ever-increasing burden of public pensions.

In fact, some suspect he has been keeping these issues from being addressed.

While I do think Pileggi has his good points, one does kind of wonder why the fair and commonsense reforms that would make life a lot easier for the average Pennsylvanian never seem to happen in this state.

In an email blast to friends and supporters, former State Rep. Sam Rohrer announced that he will be stepping down as Pennsylvania director for Americans for Prosperity and that he will outline his “next step in promoting constitutional principles and courageous leadership” later this month.

Those who know him think that means he will be throwing his hat in the Republican primary ring to be the party’s pick to take on incumbent Democrat Little Bobby Casey in the U.S. Senate race a year from now.

Rohrer ran an insurgent challenge to party-endorsed Tom Corbett in the 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary. Corbett got a bit of a scare but still won as he would the general election.

Rohrer represented the 128th District in the Pennsylvania House from 1993 to 2010 and was the respected Republican chairman of the House Finance Committee. He did not seek re-election to concentrate on the run for the governor’s office.

Rohrer’s email is:

Dear Friend,

Although, I have greatly enjoyed working with thousands of grassroots leaders from across the state as Pennsylvania State Director for Americans for Prosperity, the time has come for me to step aside from my role with AFP. After much deliberation, prayer, and discussions with family and friends, my decision has become clear.

Later this month, I will outline my next step in promoting constitutional principles and courageous leadership. It’s a road – like others we’ve traveled before- that will be difficult and with an uncertain destination. Living in this critical time in our nation’s history, I am convinced that we as Americans must rediscover that truth is the bedrock of freedom and that now is the time to rebuild that foundation together.

I hope you’ll join me in this new endeavor.Yours for Liberty,Sam

P.S. Would you please help us increase our email list in the next two weeks? Please forward to us the names and email addresses of those who you think would appreciate receiving direct communication from us concerning our plans. If they are not interested in future emails, they can easily unsubscribe at any time.

Rohrer told PoliticsPa.Com on Sept. 9 that “family circumstances have already been taken care of” and that the ground support is there.

He said the major issue preventing him from making the declaration official is fundraising. A senate run would be expected to cost $20 million.

Rohrer, a Republican, had represented the 128th District in the Pennsylvania House from 1993 to 2010 and was the respected Republican chairman of the House Finance Committee. He refrained from seeking re-election last year to concentrate on an insurgent gubernatorial run in the Pennsylvania primary. He lost to Tom Corbett, who would be the general election winner, and who is someone to whom he has never warmed.

He was named state director of Americans for Prosperity last February.